In general terms, this invention relates to a sunshade for a vehicle.
Automotive vehicles come in a variety of styles. Most all vehicles have windows while some also include openings through a roof surface such as a sunroof or moon roof. In the case of a sunroof, a rigid, glass or plastic panel is used to close off the opening in the roof as desired. To reduce the sun load within the vehicle, a shade typically is supported as part of the headliner that can be selectively closed to block off the opening to reduce or eliminate sunlight coming in through the sunroof panel. One shortcoming of such shades is that they do not allow in any light in a fully closed position. Further, when such a shade is closed, it does not allow ventilation through the roof opening.
In the case of a moon roof, when the panel is closed, no light enters the vehicle. Accordingly, the position of the panel is typically selected to control the amount of incoming light, ventilation or both.
There have been other proposed arrangements. Mesh sunshades have been attempted, but with limited success. Typical mesh fabrics tend to vibrate too much while the vehicle is moving, for example. Such mesh fabrics, however, do provide the advantage of allowing some light blocking while allowing some ventilation through the roof opening.
There is a need for an improved sunshade for a vehicle that is particularly well suited for use in conjunction with an opening in a roof that allows for some light transmission and ventilation through the roof opening. This invention addresses that need while avoiding the shortcomings and drawbacks of previous arrangements.
In general terms, this invention is a sunshade for an opening in a vehicle that reduces the amount of light transmission through the opening and allows airflow through the opening. The inventive arrangement includes a plurality of tube members that are aligned at an oblique angle to the corresponding vehicle surface such as the roof surface.
One sunshade designed according to this invention includes a substrate that is generally planar and has a plurality of parallel tube members. Each tube member has an opening extending along an axis that is at an oblique angle relative to the plane of the substrate. In one example, the tube members each comprise a polygon that shares at least one side with at least one adjacent tube member. In one particular example, the tube members are arranged in a honeycomb pattern across the substrate.
Having the tubes aligned at an oblique angle relative to the plane of the substrate reduces the amount of light transmission and provides advantageous air flow to allow ventilation through the roof opening while avoiding undesirable noise or movement of the sunshade while the vehicle is in motion and the sunshade extends across the opening.
A roof assembly designed according to this invention includes a substantially rigid roof surface that has an opening through at least a portion of that surface. A sunshade is supported for selective movement into a position where the sunshade is aligned with and extends across at least a part of the opening. The sunshade has a plurality of parallel tube members. Each tube member has an opening extending along an axis that is at an oblique angle relative to the rigid roof surface.
In one example, tracks are supported along opposite sides of the opening in the roof surface. The sunshade includes side edges that are received at least partially within the tracks such that the sunshade is slidable into the various positions available for reducing the amount of light transmission through the opening.